Mortanius
|caption = Mortanius as he appears in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. |introduced = Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996) |race = • Human |gender = • Male |birthera = • Before Nosgoth's recorded history |status = • Inactive: deceased (Blood Omen era) |titles = • Guardian of the Pillar of Death • Leader of the Hash'ak'gik cult |aliases = • Mortanius the Necromancer |territories = • Avernus Catacombs, Avernus |affiliation = • The Circle of Nine • The Sarafan brotherhood • The Hash'ak'gik cult |item = • Mortanius's Death Orb |realm = • Material Realm Spectral Realm |voice = Tony Jay Alastair Duncan |appearances = • |mentioned = • }} Mortanius the Necromancer is a principal character in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, a member of the Circle of Nine and Guardian of the Pillar of Death. Mortanius was responsible for resurrecting Kain as a vampire, and served as an enigmatic benefactor throughout his quest to restore Nosgoth. Eventually, it transpired that Mortanius' body was a vessel to the malevolent Dark Entity; he had assassinated and resurrected Kain in an attempt to correct the imbalance caused by the murder of Ariel and the corruption of the Pillars. Mortanius was the final Guardian to perish in Kain's wake. Mortanius' character is further revisited and explored in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. He, alongside Moebius, initiated the human crusades against the ancient vampires, which led to the eventual corruption of the Pillars of Nosgoth. While struggling against the Hylden Lord's attempts to possess his body, Mortanius had attempted to atone for his crimes by creating Kain - the prophecied Scion of Balance - using the Heart of Darkness. Role In a World Without Life Upon the demise of the preceding Guardian of Death, Mortanius was born, supernaturally culled to inherit curatorship of the Pillar of Death.The Pillars at the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 official site GLoK Interviews with Amy Hennig at Nosgothic Realm (by Raziel Fan), post #5 (by RazielFan) As a human Guardian, he was born some time after the genesis of the Pillars of Nosgoth, and - along with the longevity of life gifted to him by his duty - he was "skilled in the arts of manipulating death". Questions reguarding BO1. at the Eidos forums (by TheElderGodofNosgoth), post #16 (by Anubis_Orr) The Players at SK: The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain (archived at Dark Chronicle) Ancient and judicious, Mortanius was absent when Vorador launched his infamous attack on the Sarafan Stronghold in Nosgoth's early history, and was one of only three of the Circle of Nine's serving members to survive the vampire's onslaught. Warp's answers from Amy at the Eidos Forums (by blincoln) Chris@Crystal's Greatest Hits at the Eidos Forums (by Divine Shadow) In the aftermath, Mortanius personally administered punishment to Malek, the disgraced protector of the Circle. He magically stripped Malek's spirit from his body and fused it to his armor, proclaiming to him that "you have but one purpose, damned one. You will serve us for eternity". However, Mortanius's own servitude would eventually be compromised. In the pre-Blood Omen era, he was possessed by the Dark Entity, a malevolent force bent on destroying the Pillars, and - under this being's control - murdered Ariel, the Balance Guardian. "Wracked with grief and tormented by suspicions of treachery" upon finding her corpse, Ariel's lover Nupraptor - the Mind Guardian - vowed vengeance on Mortanius, and turned his telepathic powers against the Circle. Plunging into madness and launching a furious telepathic assault, he ensured that "the minds of Nosgoth's sensitive and intellectual were blasted by relentless waves of hatred". Each of the nine living Guardians were left insane by the attack, "some raving like madmen, others maliciously in control of their actions"; the Pillars' veneer turned gray and cracked, reflecting the Circle's fundamental corruption. Mercy and Judgement Realizing the peril his unwilling actions had caused, and desperate to redeem himself and correct Nosgoth's imbalance, Mortanius was "in constant conflict" with the Dark Entity. He understood that the current Guardians "had to be destroyed" and replaced in order to restore balance to the land, and conspired to purge the Circle. Mortanius learned of the young nobleman Kain, Ariel's unwitting successor as Balance Guardian. He secretly hired a band of assassins to murder Kain in Ziegsturhl, then resurrected Kain as a vampire, guiding him towards vengeance. Though Kain's assassins were dead, Mortanius hinted that they "were merely the instruments of his murder, not the cause"'; he manipulated the vampire into slaughtering Nupraptor, a goal Ariel's specter reiterated when Kain visited the Pillars. As Kain journied Nosgoth and killed successive Guardians, under the impression that his curse would end if the Pillars were restored, Mortanius occasionally addressed him with symbiotic magic, subtly spurring him on. When he failed in his attempt to destroy Malek, Mortanius commented that "the game grows interesting"; that "the true player" was elusive amidst "so many pawns". After Kain met Vorador, Mortanius guided him to Dark Eden, claiming that "north is where your vengeance lies". Mortanius issued his final words of advice as Kain traveled to Willendorf under the advice of the Oracle of Nosgoth, an insight into his philosophy: "one cannot quite accept that which sustains him", and that "death cannot reign in a world without life". He did not address his "undead son" until Kain emerged in the second timeline, having navigated and exposed the schemes of the Oracle - Moebius the Time Streamer. Mortanius heartily congratulated Kain, telling him that "Moebius did so love playing the trickster’s part", but that "with all his plots he failed to plan for you". He entreated his "undead son" to return to the Pillars, promising that "the stage is set for the grand finale": Kain would have his vengeance. The Sweet Dark Serenity of Death When Kain arrived at the Pillars, responding to Mortanius's invitation, he found the Necromancer being confronted by Anarcrothe, the States Guardian. Kain observed their dispute, unnoticed, watching as Anarcrothe angrily accused Mortanius of betraying the Circle; the Alchemist contended that his peer had "had Kain killed and turned him into a monster". Mortanius justified his own actions, arguing that "the Circle had failed in its sworn duties" and "had to be destroyed" as a necessity. Indignant, Anarcrothe demanded that Mortanius either "stand with us" or die. He attempted to destroy Mortanius, but the Necromancer easily resisted the Alchemist's magic, and brutally dispatched his foe with a combination of lightning, telekinesis and shadow spots. With all his adversaries destroyed save Mortanius, Kain emerged from hiding. He openly commended Mortanius's cunning, but assured him that he would "have to die as well" - he would not escape his fate. Mortanius embraced his fate, but told the "princeling" that "my death will leave one more to take". The two fought; Mortanius raised skeletons, zombies and shadow summoners to battle Kain, but, eventually, he succumbed. As Mortanius died, the Dark Entity crushed his mind and psyche, twisting his body into the shape of a huge demon. Claiming his Death Orb, Kain briefly restored the Pillar of Death before destroying this last remnant of his would-be benefactor. "Revolted by the machinations of the human sorcerers and alienated from his former humanity" in receipt of the knowledge that he himself was the Balance Guardian, Kain ostensibly chose to undermine Mortanius's intentions. He refused to sacrifice himself, ensuring the survival of the vampire race, but triggering the collapse of the Pillars and perpetuating the corruption of Nosgoth. Over the years, however, he sought a means to restore balance to the world. Two thousand years after the Necromancer's death, when confronted by Raziel on questions of conscience, Kain invoked his name: "your life’s span is a flicker compared to the mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanius first turned me from the light". The True Player In the early history era of the fourth timeline, while attempting to track down Raziel after saving him from the Reaver, Kain unearthed a significant facet of Mortanius's history for the first time. While exploring the Vampire Citadel, he came upon a mural recording the Circle of Nine's past. Before Nosgoth's recorded history, the sterile, cursed ancient vampires, the creators and original Guardians of the Pillars, had "adopted - and, when necessary, abducted – the human Guardians, and made vampires of them when they came of age". Ultimately, the humans rebelled against the vampires, claiming the Pillars for their own: according to the image, Moebius and Mortanius had been the leaders of the "bloody revolt". During the same timeline's Blood Omen era, while exploring Avernus Cathedral in his search for the Heart of Darkness, Raziel chanced upon Mortanius in person, shortly prior to his fateful battles with Anarcrothe and Kain at the Pillars. Mortanius was the officiant leading the Cenobites in the Avernus Catacombs, directing them in a liturgical chant to their Blood God, Hash'ak'gik. Offering tribute upon the "upon the altar of the world", the cult sacrificed "the blood of their first born", casting bodies into a pit below. His god's wrath supposedly appeased, Mortanius affirmed that the "wrath of Hash'ak'gik has once more been averted", concluding the lurid ceremony. Peering into the pit, Raziel was telekinetically thrust into its nightmarish darkness, where he discovered the creature's identity: Hash'ak'gik was Turel, his vampire brother from the Soul Reaver era, transported back through time. The force Mortanius had fallen subservient to - the Dark Entity, or Unspoken - was a member of the banished Hylden race, exiled to the Demon Realm by the magic of the Pillars at the conclusion of the vampire-Hylden war. After killing Turel, Raziel had the opportunity to question the Necromancer on this revelation. Above the pit, while magically conveying his "make haste to the Pillars" command to the younger Kain, Raziel accosted him. Embracing Fate Mortanius was unaware of Raziel's identity: he immediately assumed that he was facing the Hylden champion, and remarked that "the Binding must be fragile indeed". Satisfied that the champion was "too late", Mortanius said he had "beaten" the Hylden. As they spoke, Mortanius's body was possessed by the Dark Entity: the Hylden Lord, "nestled in the heart of the Circle itself". He had been used by the Hylden to kill Ariel, in their long-calculated plot to free themselves from their imprisonment. The Necromancer explained his own motives: in ages past, he had believed "the vampires were simply a plague upon mankind, a pestilence they had to control", but that he "didn't understand what it was the Pillars were holding back". Seeking redemption for his part in the Pillars' destruction, Mortanius had resurrected Kain using the Heart of Darkness. He (incorrectly) believed that Kain embodied both the Scion of Balance and the vampire champion, taunting Raziel that "the Pillars will return to vampire guardianship as intended, and your race will be cast down forever". Exhaustedly battling the Hylden Lord's violent attempts at possession, Mortanius knew that his enemy was "growing stronger". He trusted that Kain would "set it right" and restore Balance, redeeming himself and all of Nosgoth, but realized that his own time was short. As the Hylden Lord claimed he would "soon have a stronger vessel", Mortanius accepted his fate. With a groan, he uttered that he must "finish it. Now" to Raziel, before teleporting away to the Pillars, and his own demise. Character Development In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Mortanius was voiced by Tony Jay. In the sequel, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Tony Jay voiced the Elder God, a character whose role emulated that of Mortanius's in the first game: both characters apparently resurrected their games' respective protagonists, act as their telepathic advisors, and fuel their lust for revenge. As such, following Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver's release, it was frequently speculated that the Elder God was Mortanius: in a 1999 interview, then-series director Amy Hennig replied "maybe" when asked if they were connected. 2003's Legacy of Kain: Defiance refuted this possibility, establishing that the two characters were distinct individuals. In Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Alastair Duncan assumed the role of Mortanius, whereas Tony Jay voiced the Elder God. Hennig stated that the change was made to avoid confusion, explaining that "Tony has a great voice, but it's always clear that it's him, and the intention was not to make The Elder God and Mortanius sound the same". Upon casting Alastair Duncan, Hennig did not realize that he was coincidentially married to Anna Gunn, the voice actor for Ariel. Appearance Personality Powers Etymology Mortanius's name is presumably derived from the Latin word for "death" or "mortality" - "mortis/mortalitus". He is described as a Necromancer; Necromancy was a form of magic in which the practitioner attempted to contact the spirits of the dead, often to gain knowledge of the future. Notes *Mortanius is the only guardian whose whereabouts remain unaccounted for during Raziel and Vorador's assault on the Sarafan Stronghold in Nosgoth's early history. He, along with Moebius and Malek, survived the assault, but no other Guardians or significant Sarafan would. *Mortanius apparently remained unaware of the link between his possession by the Dark Entity/Hylden Lord and the cult of Hash'ak'gik, as he continued to faithfully serve the cult. It is possible, however, that Mortanius recognized "Hash'ak'gik" (Turel) was a vampire. *Mortanius was the intended victim of Nupraptor's psychic assault that led to the Corruption of the Pillars; Nupraptor had singled out Mortanius as Ariel's murderer, and his psychic assault was the only method he had of striking at the powerful Mortanius. *In deleted dialogue from the finale of ''Blood Omen'', Mortanius is quite free of the Dark Entity's influence and he claims full responsibility for Ariel's murder claiming that Nupraptor and Ariel's love "threatened us all". In this version Mortanius also admits he views the madness caused by the corruption as a blessing; allowing him to see that the guardians circle was a "remnant of an era long gone" and that their "deaths shall resurrect the world". The canon finale (and later games) instead emphasize the Dark Entity and Hylden's culpability; highlighting Mortanius's struggle against them and his attempts to make up for his rebellion against the vampires by bringing about events of Ancient Vampire prophecy. *In'' Blood Omen'', Mortanius had a skeltal appearance and it was implied that his powers had made him a fragile "skin and bone husk" (albeit an incredibly powerful one). When revisited in ''Defiance'', the skeletal appearance of Mortanius's costume was toned down somewhat and he was shown to be able to summon the appearance of death. ''Blood Omen'' also implied that raising vampires may have been a 'power' of the death guardian, however ''Defiance'' made clear that this was not a standard ability and Mortanius was only able to do it because he had the Heart of Darkness. *Mortanius is one of the few characters shown to have acess to the Spectral Realm, as in ''Defiance'', Raziel can confront him in either realm; the fiery "underworld" at the start of ''Blood Omen'', where Mortanius offers Kain a chance of vengeance appears to be a different interpretation of a Spectral Realm. *Mortanius's telepathic communication with the younger Kain "Come to me, my undead son" originally heard at the climax of ''Blood Omen'' to summon Kain to the pillars, seems oddly placed in ''Defiance'' as Moebius death (which preceeded the message) has yet to occur when Mortanius sent the message. Crystal Dynamics staff have admitted that the scene showing Moebius (still alive and only just going to his death) at Vorador's Mansion was a mistake. The events can still be accepted however; either Moebius has time-travelled beyond his death to gloat at Raziel, or alternatively Mortanius may simply be leaving a 'recording'. *Mortanius is mentioned once in ''Soul Reaver'' when Raziel confronts Kain at the Sanctuary of the Clans, telling him "Your life’s span is a flicker compared to the mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanius first turned me from the light". Kain also mentions Mortanius in the'' Defiance Comic'', in explaining his own origins. *In ''Blood Omen'', Mortanius was voiced by the late Tony Jay and his voice impressed, so that later on in the series Jay would be cast as the Elder God (leading to several erroneous fan theories that the characters were one and the same). When Mortanius was to reappear in ''Defiance'', Alastair Duncan was cast as Mortanius; by a co-incidence, unknown to Crystal Dynamics at the time of casting, Alastair is married to Ariel voice actress Anna Gunn. Gallery File:BO1-Character-Kain-Trapped.jpg|Concept of Mortanius and Kain (BO1). File:BO1-Character-Kain-Trapped-Color.jpg|Color concept of Mortanius and Kain (BO1). File:BO1-Character-Mortanius-Stands.jpg|Concept of Mortanius (BO1). File:BO1-Character-Mortanius-Stands-Color.jpg|Color concept of Mortanius (BO1). File:BO1-Promotional-KainAboutScreen.png|A promotional rendering including Mortanius (BO1). File:BO1-Promotional-KainTitleScreen.jpg|A promotional rendering including Mortanius (BO1). File:BO1-Wallpaper-Characters.jpg|A promotional wallpaper including Mortanius (BO1). File:BO1-Wallpaper-MortaniusClose.jpg|A promotional wallpaper of Mortanius (BO1). File:BO1-Wallpaper-MortaniusDeal.jpg|A promotional wallpaper of Mortanius (BO1). File:Defiance-Fankit-Character-Mortanius.jpg|Concept of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-Character-Mortanius-Concept-A.jpg|Concept of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-Character-Mortanius-Concept-B.jpg|Kory Heinzen's concept of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-Wallpaper-MainCast.jpg|A promotional wallpaper including Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-BonusMaterial-ArcaneTomes-Raziel-09-1.png|Bonus material concept art of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-BonusMaterial-ArcaneTomes-Raziel-09-2.png|Bonus material concept art of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-BonusMaterial-CharacterArt-Concepts-02-Mortanius.png|Bonus material concept art of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-BonusMaterial-CharacterArt-Renders-09-Mortanius.png|A rendering of Mortanius (Defiance). File:Defiance-BonusMaterial-CharacterArt-Renders-10-Mortanius.png|A close-up rendering of Mortanius (Defiance). Appearances * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (mentioned only) * Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic (mentioned only) * Legacy of Kain: Defiance See also *Death *Death Guardian *Pillar of Death *Mortanius's Death Orb *Death's Head mask *Mortanius (boss) * Mortanius the Necromancer at Wikipedia. * Mortanius the Necromancer at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Walter). * A Traitor in The Circle at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln). References }} Category:Blood Omen characters Category:Characters Category:Defiance characters Category:Defiance comic unseen characters Category:Soul Reaver unseen characters